I’ve recently moved to NSW and am looking for a weekend group or training ride bunch. I'm a competent cyclist, having ridden a bunch of 100km (~2 ½hrs) and 160km (~4 ½hrs) sportives in QLD, and competed a couple of club level (B-C grades) road races, but am not interested in racing in circles on a criterion track.

As such I'm looking for a friendly group who average 30~35km/hr on the flats that might happen to start/finish somewhere in the Parramatta to Castle Hill region on a weekend? I'm hoping to get out on the bike again this weekend so please reply if you know of a group that might be suitable?

Hi Lee,There's a couple of options for you.. The Trek Store (AT) Rouse Hill run a weekly shop ride that leaves from out the front at 6.30am on Saturdays. 2 Groups, a slow & a not so slow There's the Universe bunch from Parramatta on Saturday mornings as well.. someone else can probably tell you the leaving time / meeting place cause i'm not sure sorry.Failing that jump onto http://www.bunchridefinder.com.au/Best of luck!

6.30am from universe cycles at Nth Parra anywhere from 15 to 100 of us. Out through Quakers Hill, Mt Druitt then down the Great Western Hwy to Parra. The last 15km is swap off in groups from fast to slow.Been doing the ride for 25 years, feel free to join us. it is about 50km round trip but most of us ride from home so we get a bit more in. We have a coffee in parra after the ride and there is a group of us that head up to Baulko from coffee each week.

I will be in Red/White/Black Net Registry gear on a black Focus, or ask anyone to point out Matt Smithson/bigboy. Most of em know me, come and say hi and I will make sure you are looked after on your first ride with us.

Thanks Matt, I'll break out the beanie, and anything else warm that I've brought down with me, given this mornings rather fresh start! I'll be wearing a light blue shell, black leggings and riding a black/blue Specialized Roubaix (shown my Avatar) so will look out for you.Cheers, Lee

Last edited by Leethal on Fri Jul 12, 2013 9:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

Jump on strava and you will link up with a lot of people local to you. We need a better ride warning system though; three sets of people did the M7 last night starting within 45 minutes of each other and that is just people I know. I recommend the MIA and trek rides, good mix of abilities and it hurts as much as you want. Few sandbaggers on the faster trek rides lol and sometimes it is me!

I am in the Hills District (well, almost...). My closest club is Northern Sydney CC, but to be honest I have no real interest in racing, so going on "training rides" is no real fun. I keep getting asked if I race...why is that?I usually just do a solo run, and as I have two young kids I am usually starting at 5am so that I don't lose half the day with them. Most social rides I have done will start at 7:30 or 8am, so I don't get home until after lunch. This is because a) they ride at a fairly sedate pace (for me), and b) the coffee stop is about 40min.From home I am pretty much at the start of the 3 Gorges, so nearly all my rides feature Berowra Waters and Galston Gorge.

I'm looking for a group around here too (sick of an unreliable mate pulling out every other weekend). I don't have any group riding experience so I am a bit of noob in that respect but happy to plod along anywhere between 27-32kph.

I have heard about the Trek store ride at Rouse Hill which is just around the corner from me so I am considering checking that out.

If anyone else knows of any groups that I'd be suited to, let me know. I'll look into the other rides mentioned earlier as well.

If you are close to the Trek store, you'd be silly to not give it a go. You'll get looked after and you don't need to kill yourself to keep up. I've been riding with the shop ride for 18 months now, lots of fun.

Make sure you are there by 6:30am Saturdays and you'll be OK. You'll get looked after better if you give Dan or Charles a buzz so they know you're coming and can look out for you. Introduce yourself to everyone over coffee and you won't want to move on

renstheripper wrote:I'm looking for a group around here too (sick of an unreliable mate pulling out every other weekend). I don't have any group riding experience so I am a bit of noob in that respect but happy to plod along anywhere between 27-32kph.

I joined the universe bunch last Saturday morning, and we averaged ~32kph due to having to stop at nearly every set of lights on the course - probably one of the worst runs I've experienced: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/341583364

However, once on the Great Western Hwy the lead guys upped the pace to >50kph in sections. So I wouldn't recommend to someone new to bunch riding, but those looking for a faster group might appreciate to know this one is in the district. I'm looking forward to the next one already!

Leethal wrote:I joined the universe bunch last Saturday morning, and we averaged ~32kph due to having to stop at nearly every set of lights on the course - probably one of the worst runs I've experienced: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/341583364

However, once on the Great Western Hwy the lead guys upped the pace to >50kph in sections. So I wouldn't recommend to someone new to bunch riding, but those looking for a faster group might appreciate to know this one is in the district. I'm looking forward to the next one already!

If I am allowed to bring an ocky strap and attach myself to another rider at opportune moments then I am in!

I'm not sure the Universe ride is a good place for the bunch noob when you have options. You're also much more exposed to cars which is a deal for some. Sadly, Trek_Arty had a bike written off and a day in hospital after being rear ended on Great Western by a car doing the Universe ride. Of course, you could have the same happen elsewhere but he's an experienced rider... maybe a good idea to have a ride with a smaller group who are dealing with new faces all the time, then have a crack at some different bunches over time. Some of the quick Trek guys do the Universe ride every 6-8 weeks just for something different.

I do a mix of rides with the Bike Barn (Church Street, Parrramatta) and the LACC Bunch Rides in Sydney Olympic Park. Also, I do some racing with the Waratah Vets. This set up gives you a great mix of rides. You can find a ride every day of the week - and you never have to ride by yourself!!!

These are the rides with the Bike Barn (all rides are approx 2 hours except for public hols):

Bike Barn does not accept riders turning up without notice. You will need to see Geoff or Brian at the shop before coming on rides. You can join the mail group for the shop - and there are about 60 people on this list. I would say there is a core group of about 20 riders across the week with about another 20/25 riders not as frequent. Numbers kick up in summer months of course.

LACC are great training sessions at Sydney Olympic Park. All rides start at 6am at SOP train station. 5 loops that take approx 35/40 min. You do need to be cautious on these rides as there are so many riders who do not know each other.

The groups on Tues and Thurs can get large - esp in warmer months. Up to 30 riders per group in the warmer months. If you are looking for 30 to 35km/h average - I would recommend Group 4 for Tues and Thurs. Group 3 would average 38 to 40km/h with a max speed of 44km/h on the fast side of the paceline. Group 2 and 1 are a step up again.

Waratah Vets can be found on the web.

The other option out of Parramatta on weekends is the Universe Bunch Ride on Sat mornings as some other posts have mentioned.

Xplora wrote:I'm not sure the Universe ride is a good place for the bunch noob when you have options. You're also much more exposed to cars which is a deal for some. Sadly, Trek_Arty had a bike written off and a day in hospital after being rear ended on Great Western by a car doing the Universe ride. Of course, you could have the same happen elsewhere but he's an experienced rider... maybe a good idea to have a ride with a smaller group who are dealing with new faces all the time, then have a crack at some different bunches over time. Some of the quick Trek guys do the Universe ride every 6-8 weeks just for something different.

Hopefully we'll see you lads soon?

Yeah, I don't think I am allowed an ocky strap so that rules me out.

I plan on making the Trek Store ride this Saturday so hopefully I'll see you there.

TimW wrote:Bikebarn do not accept riders who have not bought a bike from bike barn. How do i know this? Mr Stoker told me at his old shop.

Why not? Seems shortsighted. Surely every rider is a potential bike customer even if not a current one?

He appears different Ron, I went to his store to buy a pair of road shoes, whilst he was trying to sell me a bike(which i did not need or want at that time as N+1 had not kicked in) we got talking about bunch rides. At that time i was riding with the Trek shop at Rouse Hill. I asked him if all riders were welcome at his shop rides like they are at Rouse Hill, and he gave an emphatic, No!! So i have never stepped into his store again and never will, 1.because of his attitude and 2.because of the price he tacked onto the shoes, which i later found out was excessive.

Makes much better sales sence to me to encourage all riders, and not attempt to be an eletist, but thats just me, and I will never own a bike shop lol.

edit as a postscript after N+1 did kick in, i now own 5 bikes lol bought from both the Trek Shop at Rouse Hill, and my 50th present to myself a focus team 3 Izalco ,with campy record eps from the bike shed at Mortdale. Top staff at the bike shed, highly recommend.